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Originally Posted by PeriscopeDepth
You are dancing around my question. What makes a $70+ million F-35 with a man in it a better SEAD asset than a drone that would cost half as much at the most? And HARM is proven to be a suppression weapon now after Allied Force. What is the F-35 going to be killing the SAM with? And why does the SAM find the drone but not the F-35?
PD
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There is no dancing around the question. What is so hard to figure out that the drone is not stealthy (that is not until Darpa makes its system slated for the mid 2020's, but that's another subject)? The F-35 has as small an RCS as an F-22 - about that of a dragonfly, and will be AESA equpped and it will share data and it will have sensors on its skin, all just like F-22. The only things lacking is the addition of 2 missiles the F-22 can carry, Super Cruise, and thrust vectorng. The MQ-9 Reaper will have 4 HARM's onboard, but current gen SAM's can fire well outside its range, and can probably target even a HARM inbound.
F-35 can carry weapons internally. How much internally is classified for air to ground, but at least 2 bombs or 4 AIM-120D's, but you know it can carry at least 15K lbs total according to the published numbers. And what so wrong with the internal payload of the F-35? You keep talking about it like its pathetic. Not only will the airforce version be beam weapon equipped, but it can carry 4x AIM-120D's and 2x AIM-9X's. Same payload of an F-16. An F-15 carry's what? 2 more AIM-9X's? Remember that.
Not sure why you are so against this aircraft. F-22 only exists because we plan to export F-35. We need a one up on any country operating it. No other aircraft can take on F-35. With exports, it also will make it ultimately cheap to procure.
-S
PS. Don't get me wrong, I'd rather have more F-22's than F-35's, but the F-35 is no slouch. An F-15 however will have no chance against it, AESA equipped or not.